Gareth Johnson is currently the managing-director and part time guide for Young Pioneer Tours. He spends his time floating between historic Xi'an, Beijing and the picturesque Yangshuo, where his bar is located. He was born and raised in London, England, before leaving the UK 12 years ago to work in a bar in the Caribbean.

He followed this by working on cruise ships, before moving to Xi'an initially as a teacher. In 2008 he started his travel agency and has been working to build it up ever since. Like anyone out here Gareth has bad China days, but the good days far outweigh the bad, and overall this has been a very positive experience for him, with him looking forward to getting permanent residency in 2 years.

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Fri, 11 Oct 2013 08:52:07 GMThttp://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=803:gareth-johnson&catid=57:city-interview&Itemid=169The Elderly Boomhttp://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=800:the-elderly-boom&catid=86:blogs-a-columns&Itemid=307
For nearly three decades, Mao Zedong encouraged population growth, seeing it as an asset to development. In the late 1970s, amid a runaway population boom, Mao left one extreme for the other and slapped on a one-child policy to limit the offspring of couples. Since then, the policy has halted an estimated 300 million births, leaving China's population at 1.3 billion today.

A possible effect of the "one child" policy, however, is the hastened arrival of China's silver tide. The consequences of the policy had not all been fully recognized when it was put into effect, but note that overpopulation is a far more problematic situation than an "aged" society. The early arrival of an aged society is an inevitable price for solving the great pressure of overpopulation. If we hadn't carried out the policy, the uncontrolled increase in population would be too large of a burden to shoulder.

]]>Sat, 14 Sep 2013 04:45:12 GMThttp://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=800:the-elderly-boom&catid=86:blogs-a-columns&Itemid=307Datong - 大同http://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=799:datong-&catid=46:travel&Itemid=428
I just got back from Datong, Shanxi. My school organized this trip, so this time I was traveling with all my classmates and two teachers. The trip wasn’t that fun, it was like joining a tour group, I had to follow the big group all the time, and our travel schedule was occupied with visiting historical spots which I wasn't that interested in.

After having done many backpacking trips, I got bored a lot this time, and I missed home. I'd never missed Hangzhou when I was traveling, but this time I couldn't wait to get out of Datong. One big reason-- pollution. Datong is one of the worst polluted cities in China. There're many coal mines in that city, and people there rely on coal a lot (cooking, heating...). Chimneys are everywhere, the air quality is really bad (air smells horrible!). It hardly rains in that area, most rivers have been dried up. And in spring they also suffer sandstorm every now and then... I've been to some dry areas, but it's my first time to see a dry place with so many environmental problems.

]]>Thu, 12 Sep 2013 15:15:45 GMThttp://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=799:datong-&catid=46:travel&Itemid=428China's Incredible Findhttp://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=798:chinas-incredible-find&catid=81:culture-tips&Itemid=302
The terracotta army was discovered by accident in 1974 at Xian, in China, when local farmers digging a well broke into a pit containing 6000 life-size terracotta figures. Excavation in 1976 revealed two further pits both filled with terracotta warriors. On the eastern side of the tomb a number of small pits have been found containing the bones of horses and smaller size terracotta figures of grooms. Since then discoveries have continued to be made at the site and to date the remains of nearly 8000 terracotta figures have been recovered. The terracotta army was guarding the tomb of the First Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang di, who lived over 2200 years ago. He became famous for unifying the warring states into what is now China, and for becoming the country's first emperor. He is remembered for instigating the building of the Great Wall of China, and the fanatical fear of death and an obsessive quest for the secret of immortality.

]]>Thu, 03 Oct 2013 11:39:59 GMThttp://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=798:chinas-incredible-find&catid=81:culture-tips&Itemid=302Cross-cultural communicationhttp://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=797:cross-cultural-communication&catid=81:culture-tips&Itemid=302
Some time ago, I read an interesting linguistic article called Inscrutability Revisited by Linda Wai Ling Young ("Language and Social Identity", 1982, Cambridge University Press) comparing English with Chinese discourse strategies, and arguing that, basically a lot of the frustration English speakers encounter in "getting things done" in China can be attributed to a clash between acceptable discourse strategies between the languages. The article argues that the choice of discourse strategies employed by speakers of either languages is in fact determined by the structure of the language itself. It notes that many utterances (some 50% of them) in Chinese follow a grammatical structure typed as "topic-comment" which stands in direct contrast to the format of European (inc. English) languages which is described as "subject-predicate".

]]>Wed, 11 Sep 2013 15:38:06 GMThttp://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=797:cross-cultural-communication&catid=81:culture-tips&Itemid=302Tedious Taxi Troublehttp://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=796:tedious-taxi-trouble&catid=86:blogs-a-columns&Itemid=307
Cab driver got the full whack of my jetlagged frustration as I arrived into the capital this morning. A female cab driver, I might add - always a novelty over here, but in my epic experience, on balance they do tend to be the ones that rip you off even more blatantly than their male counterparts. And this specimen certainly did herself proud.

If you’ve ever arrived at Beijing airport, you’ll know the score - before you’ve even got your baggage there’s already some geezer puffing on a fag collaring you for a cab. “Taxi SIR!!?” - I scowl - “Maybe later” he concedes, moving onto the next whitey and his fabled bulging wallet. Once in the arrival halls, the floodgates are unleashed as all manner of brown-coated shifty-looking males attempt to lure you into their respective rattling vehicles.

]]>Wed, 11 Sep 2013 13:18:12 GMThttp://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=796:tedious-taxi-trouble&catid=86:blogs-a-columns&Itemid=307Time for some introspectionhttp://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=795:time-for-some-introspection&catid=86:blogs-a-columns&Itemid=307
Sure - you may have harboured fantastic illusions of 6am tai chi sessions followed by fresh fruit breakfasts direct from the countryside before hopping on your bike to work/school/the commune. A low-fat diet, heaps of reading, bit of dabbling with the lingo - you’re not even three months in and you feel 21 again, cholesterol and stress levels back down to zero, right?

Ha. It all goes sour when you realise just how early 6am is. Especially just to go and wave a cardboard fan around with the old dears in a car park, at the mercy of the freezing morning wind. Then, your ideal breakfast is reduced to your inhaling of a few baozi as you run to work, late - and hungover, since last night you discovered tequila’s sick cousin, Baijiu. You don’t even smoke, but within 6 months, Beijing’s air will allow you too to sample the lungs of an 80-year old asthmatic first hand, plus the skin complexion to match.

]]>Thu, 12 Sep 2013 04:30:25 GMThttp://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=795:time-for-some-introspection&catid=86:blogs-a-columns&Itemid=307Top 75 books for learning Chinesehttp://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=794:top-75-books-for-learning-chinese&catid=105:practical-tips&Itemid=420
Mandarin Chinese isn't a very complex language, in real life, if you have Chinese-speaking friends then you can practise with them or there are a numerous online Mandarin schools exist for helping improve your Chinese. But the most important is that you need to be practiced daily with your Chinese learning books, it is the most convenient way to learn Chinese.

First, you may think that Chinese is difficult to learn, but once you try to understand it, you will embrace it and it will be now easy for you to cope up with it. There are plenty of books and multi-media materials for learning Mandarin Chinese. You can find out what is the best for becoming your Mandarin Chinese learning resources. The following are some top selling books for studying and learning Chinese language in Amazon.

]]>Mon, 09 Sep 2013 15:07:42 GMThttp://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=794:top-75-books-for-learning-chinese&catid=105:practical-tips&Itemid=420Hot and Noisyhttp://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=793:hot-and-noisy&catid=86:blogs-a-columns&Itemid=307
One of the things about living in China is that you just can’t get any damn time to yourself. Wherever you go, no matter how far, there will ALWAYS be someone else there. If you climb the most distant part of the Great Wall, a little old lady will follow you all the way up trying to sell you cruddy postcards.

If you climb some far off sacred mountain, there will be someone at the peak trying to flog you a picture book, a bottle of fake water or some instant noodles. On the other hand, Chinese people seem to be cool with this. They find comfort in groups: Chinese people like “热闹″ (”re’nao” - literally, “hot and noisy”) - crowds of people, lots of noise and colour. This is fun.

]]>Wed, 11 Sep 2013 04:57:00 GMThttp://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=793:hot-and-noisy&catid=86:blogs-a-columns&Itemid=307There’s more space at the back of the bus!http://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=792:theres-more-space-at-the-back&catid=86:blogs-a-columns&Itemid=307
When the summer heat becomes unbearable, I leave my bicycle in the parking garage and I head to the good 'ol bus stop. I don't mind the bus, it's relatively quick and more importantly, air conditioned but it does have the effect of driving my “rage-o-meter” through the roof. If you ever see a bus drive by in Shanghai, then you are sure to notice that there is an enormous depression right in the center of the bus. This depression is a result of every passenger without a seat refusing to move any further away than their arms gripping the doors will let them. It doesn't matter if they are getting off in 17 stops. For some reason they absolutely must be within arms reach of the door at all times. This is most noticeable when you need to get by someone to get off, the people in front of you will usually do no more than slightly arch their backs or barely twist their shoulders.

]]>Mon, 09 Sep 2013 13:41:43 GMThttp://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=792:theres-more-space-at-the-back&catid=86:blogs-a-columns&Itemid=307Participate in &quot;cultural relics surgery&quot; in Xi'anhttp://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=791:participate-in-qcultural-relics-surgeryq-in-xian&catid=1:xian-news&Itemid=352
Visitors to the ancient city of Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, now have a chance to do relics repair themselves as a local museum is inviting the public to participate in a "cultural relics surgery" activity. Shaanxi History Museum is breaking with convention to allow members of the public to help with restoration work like pottery and carving repairs under the instruction of experts.

"Restoration work can be so delicate that a drop of sweat can hurt a bronze item. Visitors mostly only participate in easy work like checking and matching fragments. Difficult work, like using chemical elements to coat relics stay in the hands of experts," said bronze ware expert Fu Wenbin.

]]>Mon, 09 Sep 2013 11:14:21 GMThttp://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=791:participate-in-qcultural-relics-surgeryq-in-xian&catid=1:xian-news&Itemid=352What’s China like? Which one?http://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=790:whats-china-like-which-one&catid=86:blogs-a-columns&Itemid=307
I’m always amazed at the question: “So what’s it like in China?” It’s like asking: “So what’s it like in the US?” Would that be LA or Chicago or Miami or Podunk Utah where I grew up? The question is usually phrased something like this: “I saw this documentary about China…is it really like that?” Or “My friend went there once and said it was ________. Is that true?”

My parents came over to visit in ’07 and they were honestly relieved that I didn’t live in a quanza hut. I live in SZ—12 million people, most money and education in China, no buildings over 30 years old, more BMW’s and Benz’s than bikes. Not to be outdone, I got some great questions from the Chinese during this latest trip home for Chinese New Year: “Do you know Joe? He’s from New York. He taught me English.” Or my new favorite: “Really?! Black people are Americans too?!” And, of course: “What’s the weather like in the US?”

]]>Sun, 08 Sep 2013 00:40:16 GMThttp://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=790:whats-china-like-which-one&catid=86:blogs-a-columns&Itemid=307My trip to Xi'anhttp://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=789:my-trip-to-xian&catid=46:travel&Itemid=428
If Beijing is the political heart of China, then Xi'an is its historical center. An ancient philosopher once mused that all those seeking the truth should go to China. A contemporary philosopher added that no visit to China is complete without a journey to Xi'an. This reflects the important position Xi'an holds as a famed historical and cultural city and one of China's six major ancient capitals.

Many people take the city as the Mecca in their mind. But my business trip there years ago tells a different story. Xianyang Airport sat in the middle of an enormous archeological excavation site and rows of ancient tombs could be identified along highways leading to Xi'an. These were supposed to be the entrance of an invisible "time tunnel", that quickly sent me back to the remote past, being the Qin, Han or Tang dynasties.

]]>Sat, 07 Sep 2013 21:01:40 GMThttp://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=789:my-trip-to-xian&catid=46:travel&Itemid=428Chinese Banquetshttp://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=788:banquets-in-china&catid=81:culture-tips&Itemid=302
As a foreigner living in China, I've had countless banquets thrown with me being the guest of honor. A banquet to welcome me, a banquet to see me off, and banquets in between with numerous leaders, members of the communist party and sometimes just interested people who want my friendship and a chance to practice their English. The banquets start off with handshakes all around, translation when needed, and creating a seating arrangement that is suitable for the neccesary 'feng shui', with the guest of honor facing the door. Drinking is a major deal at the banquets, and any excuse to drink will be made. "Lets drink to this" and "lets drink to that..." Sometimes it's exhausting.

]]>Sat, 07 Sep 2013 21:30:17 GMThttp://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=788:banquets-in-china&catid=81:culture-tips&Itemid=302Out Of Touchhttp://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=787:out-of-touch&catid=86:blogs-a-columns&Itemid=307
Beijing exists in a void that is out of touch with the charms of China I sought to experience. It's a city full of materialistic dreams and cluttered with tower cranes. Watching western businessmen in their suits, I'm reminded of ancient vikings crashing upon the shores of distant lands seeking to rape and pillage.

Cheap labor and profits seem to be all they care for. They wander around with outstretched hands and eager faces, seeking to lay their paws on anything of value. I can't help but to feel a distance between people like me and invaders like them. It's not just the foreigners who cling to dreams of financial prosperity and fast profits. The Chinese also care about little more than the size of their salary, a trip abroad or a constant supply of the latest fashions. A materialistic disease has infected the metropolitan Chinese cities.

]]>Mon, 09 Sep 2013 06:14:55 GMThttp://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=787:out-of-touch&catid=86:blogs-a-columns&Itemid=307Xiamenhttp://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=786:xiamen&catid=46:travel&Itemid=428
Xiamen is actually an island linked to the mainland by a long causeway of road and railway. Sightseeing by riding on the Island Ring Road and a long bridge along the seaside is wonderful. Though the city is also called Egret Island, we saw no egret this time. Numerous parks, hills, waters, temples and gardens comprise a grand beautiful picture, making the city a great vacation site.

Fortunately, hotspots are conveniently concentrated for visitors to experience the area's hype and magic. You are deeply impressed with the evidence of an international settlement in the surviving colonial architecture of parts of its skyline. Previously, Xiamen had an excellent record of public safety and was tranquil and graceful, free from the hustle and bustle, traffic jams and stale air typical of big cities. But a Golden Week just gave a different picture of Xiamen.

]]>Fri, 06 Sep 2013 08:02:35 GMThttp://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=786:xiamen&catid=46:travel&Itemid=428Xi’an-China: An overrated tourist destinationhttp://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=779:xian-china-an-overrated-tourist-destination&catid=46:travel&Itemid=428
Xi’an is pouring rain. It has been raining here since the moment we landed, and is still downpouring. We hate Xi’an. It’s the first time on our trip that we really have wanted to go home or anywhere else and can’t, and it’s been an exercise in frustration. Most people come to Xi’an to see the terracotta warriors.

They were discovered in 1974 by some poor farmer digging a well and since 1979 tourists, western and Chinese alike, have been flocking here at the rate of a million a year. Of all the sights in China that we’ve seen, the terracotta warriors have been the most anticlimactic. Maybe it was the presentation, maybe it was the 8-hour tour that we went on, or maybe it was because we felt more like cattle than ever, herded through the site with thousands of other tourists, but after experiencing the relative peace and awe that struck us at the Great Wall, this hardly seemed worth the effort and money to visit.

]]>Wed, 27 Feb 2013 20:07:30 GMThttp://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=779:xian-china-an-overrated-tourist-destination&catid=46:travel&Itemid=428Why don't Chinese stand in line?http://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=778:why-dont-chinese-stand-in-line&catid=86:blogs-a-columns&Itemid=307
When I was a student, my Chinese teacher used to tell our class sad stories about having to wait in line for hours at a time with a voucher coupon to obtain the same drab clothing that everyone else was wearing during the Cultural Revolution. After the time I've spent here in a China , I wonder:

How on earth could my teacher and his peers do it? By "do it," I don't mean to tolerate being forced to wear the same clothing as everyone else, I mean to stand in line for hours. In case you didn't know, the people in this last great bastion of Communism are very, very bad at forming lines. I was reminded of that today when making what I hoped to be a brief trip to a supermarket. This is a busy time of year for China thanks to the spring festival, and for the last decade the government has increased holiday commercial traffic by giving people a week off to spend, spend, and spend some more. So needless to say the supermarkets and shopping malls were positively overflowing with people when I went out.

]]>Thu, 21 Feb 2013 09:36:33 GMThttp://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=778:why-dont-chinese-stand-in-line&catid=86:blogs-a-columns&Itemid=307Xi'ans Air Quality Index (AQI)http://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=777:xians-air-quality-index-aqi&catid=31:environment&Itemid=165
An air quality index (AQI) is a number used by government agencies to communicate to the public how polluted the air is currently or how polluted it is forecast to become. As the AQI increases, an increasingly large percentage of the population is likely to experience increasingly severe adverse health effects. Different countries have their own air quality indices which are not all consistent. Different countries also use different names for their indices such as Air Quality Health Index, Air Pollution Index and Pollutant Standards Index. Air quality is defined as a measure of the condition of air relative to the requirements of one or more biotic species or to any human need or purpose.

To compute the AQI requires an air pollutant concentration from a monitor or model. The function used to convert from air pollutant concentration to AQI varies by pollutant, and is different in different countries. Air quality index values are divided into ranges, and each range is assigned a descriptor and a color code. Standardized public health advisories are associated with each AQI range.

]]>Thu, 21 Feb 2013 13:31:55 GMThttp://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=777:xians-air-quality-index-aqi&catid=31:environment&Itemid=165Mandarin - Dialects - Accentshttp://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=776:mandarin-dialects-accents&catid=86:blogs-a-columns&Itemid=307
Everywhere I go, I feel like an outsider -- I don't know that place, and I don't speak their language. Yeah, language , it's a big reason to make me feel that I don't belong to that place.

People in different regions of China speak different languages. We have mandarin as the standard spoken language of China, it's the official language, we use it on TV, radio, formal occasions ... and to communicate with people from different areas , but in daily lives, mandarin is not that widely used : in each area, we have our own local dialect. Like I live in Hangzhou, when talking with my family and other Hangzhou people, I usually speak Hangzhou dialect, and everyone does the same thing. Before entering the university , most people around me were native Hangzhounese, so most of the time, I spoke dialect rather than mandarin. At school, we used mandarin in the classroom, but outside classroom like during the break of the classes, we all spoke Hangzhou dialect.

]]>Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 GMThttp://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=776:mandarin-dialects-accents&catid=86:blogs-a-columns&Itemid=307Who do you like to work with?http://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=775:who-do-you-like-to-work-with&catid=106:business&Itemid=436
Probably who you identify most easily with. A year or so ago my then 5 year-old told me, in all seriousness, “Dad I’m like Kobe, not white like you.” Suppressing laughter I responded, “Actually, you’re more like Yaoming than Kobe.” But he was insistent. He was “black like Kobe” he told me. Now he wants a Knicks jersey–bet you can guess which number. Yup, 17. Jeremy Lin. My boys are all over him. Of course so is everyone else with any connection to China. Or the NBA for that matter. But it makes sense. Not only is he good, but generally people more easily like what they can identify with–educated, christian, Chinese, underdog story–he’s hitting just about all the right buttons. Similarly, Obama gets 90% of the black vote regardless. Ditto Mitt Romney and the Mormon vote. And Lin and the Chinese community are the same.

]]>Tue, 05 Feb 2013 21:42:44 GMThttp://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=775:who-do-you-like-to-work-with&catid=106:business&Itemid=436The ugly side of cynicismhttp://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=774:the-ugly-side-of-cynicism&catid=86:blogs-a-columns&Itemid=307
A while back, a friend of mine had his bag stolen. A bit later he received a phone call from someone that said he found the bag. They made a plan to meet that evening to hand over the bag. The stranger seemed nice and friendly on the phone. Well, a short while later, my friend received a call from the stranger demanding 5000RMB for the bag and its contents.

A few of us stood around and tried to come up with ever more complex ways to nab the crook and get the bag without any sort of knife-slashing-the-face antics. My friend ultimately decided to forget about the bag since replacing everything would cost somewhere in the neighborhood of 1000RMB and getting into a potentially dangerous argument over credit cards wasn't worth the effort.

]]>Fri, 01 Feb 2013 18:26:57 GMThttp://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=774:the-ugly-side-of-cynicism&catid=86:blogs-a-columns&Itemid=307Approved in China.http://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=758:approved-in-china&catid=86:blogs-a-columns&Itemid=307
Everything we design and make in China has to be approved by some govt 'Quality Bureau'. What we make we pretty much try to keep away from the prying eyes of the competition, as we're good at it and they'd love to know how were are so good.

Now, we have some products that we have been selling for about 3 years in China - simple components that go into mobile phone systems - and they've never been approved because they are made to a customers spec and they go into a customers system so there is no real need for the parts to be approved. Makes sense to everyone, almost. Well, now, after all these years we have to get these parts 'approved' to make sure they are of a suitable quality for sale in China (actually standard practice). So we have to submit a pile of documentation to a certain department for them to review and approve. Trouble is, they don't have anyone who understands our technology or who is competent or qualified to do it - so they have recruited an 'expert' to do it for them. This 'expert' and his 4 cronies (yes, 5 people in total) have to review and approve our products and the entire documentation from specifications, drawings, process, test, inspection...etc.

]]>Sun, 17 Feb 2013 19:49:27 GMThttp://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=758:approved-in-china&catid=86:blogs-a-columns&Itemid=307Kidnapped for speaking outhttp://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=757:kidnapped-for-speaking-out&catid=107:china-news&Itemid=434
A reporter with the German TV station Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF) was interviewing a young man in China about the newspaper censorship controversy, when, immediately after the interview, a team of plainclothes Chinese police picked up the man like a slab of meat and threw him into the back of an unmarked van, stunning the German camera crew.

China’s plainclothes state security agents are well known, particularly in Beijing and near politically sensitive sites such as Tienanmen Square. And it’s not uncommon for them to bundle perceived troublemakers, especially protesters or petitioners, into unmarked vans. But it is jarring to see police officers grabbing citizens so openly in front of a German TV news camera, given the Communist Party’s sensitivity to Western scrutiny of its human rights record.

]]>Fri, 25 Jan 2013 13:38:45 GMThttp://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=757:kidnapped-for-speaking-out&catid=107:china-news&Itemid=434Why I came to China?http://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=756:why-i-came-to-china&catid=86:blogs-a-columns&Itemid=307
I am often asked by people to give them my reasons for coming to live and work in China. I never fail to hesitate and give them some lame answer to their question. I usually end up telling them them I'm not sure or that I believed China would be a really different place than my home, or that I just wanted the travel experience. All of that is true.

However, when I ponder the motivations that compelled me to seek out a means for being able to live in China, I come across deeper meanings than what I can just list off the top of my head. I will attempt to give a list of the reasons why I chose to come to China in the most articulate way possible. Not just for you, the readers, but also for me. Perhaps the next time I'm asked why I came to China, I'll be able to say more than, "Because I wanted to".

]]>Sat, 07 Sep 2013 14:00:39 GMThttp://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=756:why-i-came-to-china&catid=86:blogs-a-columns&Itemid=307China - Between Past and Futurehttp://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=755:china-between-past-and-future&catid=84:report&Itemid=305
China is a country endowed with a colorful history. Owning deeply engrained traditions that few of it's population stray from it is a country that is hard to decipher for the outsider. Often what is visible is only a fraction of what exists. China is a seemingly never ending tangle of milleniums old customs that it's people have endeared themselves to and cannot forget or alter.

This is slowly changing however in the bigger, more developed cities. Newer generations are leading more independent lives seperate from their parents, and going abroad for education and work, leaving behind the traditions of the past and rushing into a world of modern thought.

]]>Thu, 24 Jan 2013 22:21:46 GMThttp://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=755:china-between-past-and-future&catid=84:report&Itemid=305PDAshttp://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=754:pdas&catid=86:blogs-a-columns&Itemid=307
It’s one of those cliches of China advice, something that’s told to every business person before they travel to China for the first time: “Don’t lose your temper. Displays of anger are frowned upon in China.”

Yeah, right. If that’s true, then why is it that I see people here publicly and spectacularly Losing It here in China just about every single day?

You’ve all seen them — usually involving some nouveau-riche guy with a manbag and his mobile phone clipped to his belt, occassionally a little juiced up on baijiu, ranting and raving and screaming and shouting at whoever has slighted his “face”. I’ve seen people screaming at airport check-in staff, shop assistants, cab drivers, security guards, each other in the street when they collide on their bikes, there seems to be no end to the anger and frustration among the locals.

]]>Sun, 24 Feb 2013 20:31:38 GMThttp://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=754:pdas&catid=86:blogs-a-columns&Itemid=307Eating out for &quot;Nianyefan&quot;http://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=750:eating-out-for-qnianyefanq&catid=81:culture-tips&Itemid=302
Nianyefan is the Chinese term for the dinner on the eve of Chinese New Year (CNY). Marking the end of the year and the coming of the new lunar year, it is regarded as the most important reunion meal for Chinese families and is traditionally cooked at home as a big event, with delicacies usually unavailable and different from everyday dishes.

Traditionally, Chinese will travel from all over the country to be with their families for the meal, which always includes a fish dish - considered a symbol of prosperity - and plenty of toasting with rice wine. Until a few years ago, almost every family in the city ate at home, while restaurants shut for the evening. When I was a little kid, I always looked forward to the CNY for good meals and some other entertaining things.

]]>Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 GMThttp://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=750:eating-out-for-qnianyefanq&catid=81:culture-tips&Itemid=302Chinese Superstitionshttp://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=749:chinese-superstitions&catid=81:culture-tips&Itemid=302
Many Chinese sank into absurdity, rushing to wed before the coming of the Rooster Year (2005), a "widow's year" made by an ancient superstition arising from a calendar quirk. Because of the vagaries of the Chinese lunar calendar, that Rooster Year did not contain the traditional Start of Spring. For many here, that means the Chinese year is a bad one in which to marry.

It is true that Chinese New Year is a high time for practicing Chinese superstitions. Regardless of the year you were born, there are certain customs that many Chinese adhere to during the New Year. Shooting off firecrackers on New Year's Eve is the Chinese way of sending out the old year and welcoming in the new. On the stroke of midnight, every door and window in the house has to be opened to allow the old year to go out. Many people also abstain from eating meat on the first day of the New Year because it is believed that this will ensure a long and happy life. Some may eat a whole fish, that represents togetherness and abundance, or a chicken with its head and feet intact, which symbolizes prosperity.

]]>Mon, 28 Jan 2013 19:19:56 GMThttp://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=749:chinese-superstitions&catid=81:culture-tips&Itemid=302Lock your doorshttp://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=748:lock-your-doors&catid=86:blogs-a-columns&Itemid=307
In China, Spring Festival is high season for thieves. It's a time of year when everybody needs money, and some folks will stop at no end to ensure that their family appears prosperous as the seasons change.

Last year, I lived in a comfortable 2-man apartment provided by my former employer in Xi'an. My roommate was a burly guy from North Carolina and—for the most part—we got along just fine. One night, almost a year ago to this day, we went out for drinks and came back sort of late. We were feeling good, talking over some of the things we'd seen recently. At around 1:30, we went to bed. Now luckily for me, I was having trouble getting to sleep that night. The hours passed—two o'clock, three o'clock—still no sleep. At about 3:30 AM—when I was just starting to doze off—I saw a strange light flashing through the frosted glass that adjoined my bedroom to the living room.

]]>Wed, 11 Sep 2013 17:12:54 GMThttp://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=748:lock-your-doors&catid=86:blogs-a-columns&Itemid=307It's Teatime!http://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=747:its-teatime&catid=81:culture-tips&Itemid=302
I want to talk about three things, in my very first article for New Dynasty. Learning chinese, my perceptions of concepts of personal space and spacial perceptions in general in China, and tea.

Learning chinese is a real trip. I've had to really change my attitude towards speaking chinese recently. Previously, chinese was something I just spoke, and usually other chinese speakers would compliment me on my ability to speak with the appropriate inflections in pronouncing each word, and I would assume I was speaking chinese. Not so. Chinese is, I've figured out, not spoken in words. Chinese is almost spoken in sentences, but not quite. That is to say, there are very set patterns. English, english, well, I'm not sure. I think when we speak english we have some of the same forces at work - that we speak in culturally accepted and tried-and-true patterns, that we, or I at least, am not totally conscious of when I speak.

]]>Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 GMThttp://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=747:its-teatime&catid=81:culture-tips&Itemid=302Oh no, that's different.http://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=746:oh-no-thats-different&catid=86:blogs-a-columns&Itemid=307
I am not sure how many of you have been following this anti-Japanese fever running through China at the moment (Senkaku Islands etc.), though I admit it's nothing new. This week I am discussing or attempting too, with my students some of the cultural differences between their world and well...the rest of it.

I had prepared some question about marriage and relationships in general for them to kick around. One of the questions, "would you date/marry someone from another country?" I didn't want them just to think of someone from Europe or America and mentioned to them would it be different if the boy was from Korea or Japan for instance. On a side note, I know how most, if not all, Chinese feel about the Japanese, but I thought I would throw it in and see what happens. At first my students didn't react too much to the Korean comment, most of the girls think Korean guys are pretty cute apparently. Pretty much a 180 occurred when I mentioned, "let's say the guy is from Japan?"

]]>Mon, 21 Jan 2013 23:54:36 GMThttp://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=746:oh-no-thats-different&catid=86:blogs-a-columns&Itemid=307Yan'an Mini Reviewhttp://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=745:yanan-mini-review&catid=46:travel&Itemid=428
I took a trip to Yan'an (延安), the birthplace of the Chinese Communist Revolution and the ultimate destination of the famed "Long March." It's in the north of Shaanxi Province (陕西), which is the same province I'm teaching in. It was about an 8 hour bus ride over tremendously bumpy roads, but well worth the trouble. Where else, for example, could you explore the building in which Mao Zedong was officially proclaimed Chairman of the CCP?

I stayed for only one day and a night, 20 yuan for the night and without having to worry about scruples like showing them our passports. The people in this city are incredibly friendly. Entrance fees for half the places we visited were waived. If there's anyone out there who really wants to get lost in a faraway corner of China to learn the language, this place would be ideal. There are a even a few universities in town. Not once were I gawked at and not once did someone yell out "HELLO!" in my face as I walked by. It's a bit of an oasis (not literally- the river running through the city was completely dried out) in the sense that everyone spoke only Chinese to me. There were no annoying repetitive quizzes or questions about what the best things in China are.

]]>Tue, 22 Jan 2013 18:27:09 GMThttp://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=745:yanan-mini-review&catid=46:travel&Itemid=428Rich &amp; Poor studentshttp://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=744:rich-a-poor-students&catid=86:blogs-a-columns&Itemid=307
Five hours of listening to students butchering your language is nothing. Nothing. I've been doing it for days on end. (Actually, I've finished now, and just have to mark them all - which is the real killer. Also, I've been quite impressed with the lack of butchery. This either shows that my current students are of a reasonably high overall standard, which they should be, as they are 4-year-degree students rather than 3-year-diploma ones. Or it shows that over the years I've developed immunity to the wholesale destruction of my beautiful language.). Anyway, I got a phonecall from a fellow foreign teacher the other day. He was deeply depressed and disillusioned. (What? I hear you cry. How could anybody be depressed and disillusioned while teaching in China?) You see, the thing is this chap's teaching in a rather famous and rather rich private university. Which means he's teaching stupid rich kids. Rich because their parents are paying tonnes of money for their education rather than send them to a poxy little state-run college like mine.

]]>Sat, 19 Jan 2013 18:43:52 GMThttp://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=744:rich-a-poor-students&catid=86:blogs-a-columns&Itemid=307The Voices of Timehttp://newdynasty.com.cn/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=743:the-voices-of-time&catid=86:blogs-a-columns&Itemid=307
That's the title of one of the texts in the extensive reading book I was issued last term. It was actually quite interesting to talk with my students in Xi'an about different cultural perceptions of time. The example given in the text described an important American agriculturalist who had an appointment with the minister for agriculture in 'an Asian country' (not specified).

After announcing his arrival to the secretary, the American waited for fourty-five minutes in the outer office, before leaving in an insulted huff. In 'western' culture, promptness is a virtue, and to keep a business associate or official visitor waiting is considered highly unprofessional. Yet in the 'asian' country apparently fourty-five minutes was only the start of the acceptable waiting time, and thus the American's actions appeared both incomprehensible and impolite.